Broken
by jayer
Summary: Things broken can sometimes take an unexpected turn on the path to fixing them
1. Chapter 1

Adam slipped off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"You okay there Doc?"

"Just tired, Kenji. Thanks for asking." Adam went back to his typing.

"You ought to go home and get some sleep. You look like old oatmeal."

"I kind of feel like it." Adam laughed. He quickly typed the last line and saved the file. "And done. Just going to check in on Jordi and then it's sleep time."

"Have a good night."

Adam was surprised to find Jordi's bed empty. It had been a while since Kenji gave Jordi the painkillers and they should have knocked him right out. He checked the bathroom and found it empty. Then he noticed Jordi's jacket was missing. He had an idea where Jordi might be.

Adam quickly made his way up the stairs to the roof door. He knew that Ruben had slipped the kids a key before leaving. Adam hadn't busted them on it even through he should have.

"Jordi?" Ruben had left Adam a key also, in case of emergencies.

The roof was empty. Adam wasn't sure if he was worried or relieved. Where could Jordi be?

Adam leaned over the wall, hoping perhaps Jordi was sitting outside getting some air. He was relieved to see Jordi sitting on a bench. Adam was about to turn away when he saw someone walk up to Jordi. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Jordi had what looked like a prescription bottle to the girl who handed him something. His stomach soured as he realized what it likely was and how he'd been played the fool.


	2. Chapter 2

"Dr McAndrew." Jordi was surprised when he walked into his room. "What's up?"

"You played me. You played Kenji."

"What are you talking about?"

"I saw you Jordi."

Jordi swallowed. "Dr McAndrew, it's not what you think. It was mostly aspirin."

"So you played that girl also. That doesn't make it any better. You sold drugs, Jordi. You lied to get them, for who knows how long."

"It was just this one time."

"Really?" Dr McAndrew held up the money from Delaney.

"It's not what you think. I swear. I can explain."

"Just don't Jordi. Don't. I'm not sure I can trust anything you say right now. " Dr McAndrew. "I can't have this conversation right now. Or I'll say something I can't take back."

Jordi felt his stomach flip as he watched Dr. McAndrew pick up the file with the papers for his request.

"I backed you wanting to file this because I thought you were mature and responsible. I was wrong.

"Where's the money?"

Jordi handed the bills to him.

"Go to bed, Jordi. You start chemo after class tomorrow." Dr McAndrew said coldly, then walked out before Jordi could reply.

Jordi slowly took after his jacket and curled up on his bed. He felt awful. He wasn't even worried about how they'd send him to jail, how he'd ruined his shot at getting free.

No, it was the look on Dr McAndrew's face. That look of anger and disappointment. Jordi closed his eyes and could still see that look. It hurt more than anything, everything else.


	3. Chapter 3

Adam let out a long breath. Mentally he was kicking himself. He should have seen it coming, after all Jordi had basically hustled him to get admitted. Was it really that big of a stretch to think that he might have been playing all kinds of games. Or that a child raised by a semi professional card cheat, if Jordi's stories were true, would be incapable of turning criminal himself.

And yet. That was the catch. And yet. Adam really did think that Jordi was a good kid. A desperate kid, sure. And desperation could easily make anyone do something stupid. Wasn't that exactly why Jackson had tampered with Charlie's blood work. And she was very much an adult and knew better. Jordi was a kid, despite his attempts to be named a legal adult. Kids do stupid stuff all the time. Clearly he wasn't trying to commit a crime, right? It wasn't greed or some thrill thing. It was the only way to get the money he thought he needed. The only way he could think of. Asking someone for help would make it seem like he couldn't fend for himself and at was the exact opposite of the image he needed to show the state. Or so Jordi might have believed.

That was it wasn't it. Adam wanted to believe that. He wanted to believe in the good kid that was just scared silly and not thinking straight. He didn't want to believe he'd truly been played. Not by Jordi. Certainly not after failing to make the right care with Eva. He still wasn't sure what stung the most about that one. That he had pushed Jordi and it blew up on the kid. Or that had called it from the start. And when she found out about this.

Adam slipped on his jacket and picked up the folder. He wasn't sure what he was going to do. He knew that legally, ethically, he had to report what he saw. He had no real proof but if anyone found out that he suspected what went down, what he did see scant as it was, he could lose his job and even his license. Just the fact that he and Kenji effectively supplied Jordi with the pills, even without knowing his intent, would be a black mark. Especially on Kenji who was responsible for making sure Jordi had actually taken them. But if he reported what he saw, what he suspected, what Jordi had admitted. The storm would be ugly. Kenji might get suspended, Jordi would definitely never get emancipated and might be moved to a hospital with a jail wing. Jackson would be livid about both counts. And that was the ugliest bit of them all. Adam never one to cross Jackson if he could avoid it. Kenji and Brittany together were still nothing compared to the true wrath of Jackson. Especially if one of her kids were involved. And Jordi was definitely one of her kids.

All the thoughts, all the voices. It was enough to give him a headache. Especially when he was already tired. Oddly tired even. Eight days straight without a day off would do that. And then this, it had just sapped him. Days like this often sent Adam to the bar for a drink, something he knew he really shouldn't do. Too many doctors became alcoholics from self medicating with a bourbon or two. And it had worked out so well last time. Today he was far too tired to consider it. He wanted to go home, take a shower and turn off his alarm before going to bed. Despite the mile long list of chores he needed to do, he just wanted to sleep. The nurses had orders to call him if anything truly bad happened like Jordi spiked a bad fever or Charlie had some freak seizure. Otherwise, let the doctors on duty handle it.

"Good night Kenji" Adam called out as he walked by the nurses station.

"Doc wait up a sec." Kenji called after him.

"Have Douglas handle it." Adam reached for the call button.

"It's about Emma."

Adam's hand froze. Technically Emma wasn't his patient. As a unit attending he handled cases on everything except psych and eating disorders. But he knew the girl, liked her smarts and her wit. And certainly was aware of her general situation and the fact that she was friends with several of his patients gave him a reason to be concerned. If something truly bad happened the blowback would be severe. Especially with Leo and Jordi who even Adam knew both had feelings for the girl. And Jordi losing one more person in his life, could be devastating. Half of surviving cancer was the want to survive.

"What about Emma?" Adam asked as he walked back to the nurses station. "Didn't she go home today?"

"I got a call from a nurse friend who works at the ER at Mercy in Bakersfield. They were asking about Emma's medical history. Apparently her father found her passed out in her bathroom."

"Is she okay?"

"She's stable. But her blood sugar and electrolytes were super down. There were signs she'd recently vomited and might have forced it. He said they were debating putting her in a psych hold and force feeding her."

"Emma's not going to like that." Adam sighed. "Don't mention this to any of the kids. Aside from not being our business, I don't want to freak any of them out unnecessarily. But call me if your friend happens to stretch the rules and gives you any worrisome updates. We'll decide what to tell Leo and the rest of them then."

"Sure Doc."

"Now if there is nothing else, I'm going to get the hell out of here."

"Fly away fast."

"May all your children stay asleep and all your alarms quiet."

"From your lips." Kenji laughed. "Good night, Doc."

"Good night."

Adam drove home in silence. He dumped his bag and keys on the counter and made a beeline for the shower. He wanted to wash the day off but the water couldn't reach inside his head and wash out all the thoughts. They swum around like sharks, refusing to go away. He stood under the water, wishing it would at least loosen up the muscles that seemed to be locked in tense knots.

Finally the water turned cold and Adam had to give up. He pulled on his favorite pajama pants and a clean tee. He padded into the kitchen and poured himself a drink, hopefully it would at least slow down his brain enough that he'd fall asleep. His eye caught on his bag with Jordi's application tucked inside. He knew what he should do, what the rules said. His head was telling him that he had no choice. Anymore than when Jackson switched those labels.

But his heart was a different matter. And the two refused to come to an agreement. Or as the night went on, to shut up and let him sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Jordi's head was fuzzy. Breakfast had done nothing to quench the constant tired feeling, made worse by what had been a restless night. He had slept but walking up with a damp shirt and his sheets twisted and tangled around him told him it wasn't well.

He had wanted to go find Dr McAndrew, try to explain what had been going on. No, he wanted to admit it had been a stupid and immature thing to do. That it was wrong. Jordi wanted to face up to it. To beg, far far harder than he had the first day, for the doctor to help him and not turn him in. To swear it would never happen again. He would find some other way even if it meant taking a chance that the social worker was right and asking to have the fee waived would hurt his chances. And he wouldn't expect the doctor to help him expedite the process. He couldn't ask that after what he did. He would just have to play by the book and deal with whatever happened. He wasn't thrilled about having to do more chemo but even Dr McAndrew had said the surgery was risky so he couldn't blame Children's Services for denying it. After all, it was their job to keep kids safe and more chemo was the safe move.

He had actually started to go. He'd gotten out of bed, slipped on a sweatshirt cause he just couldn't do the robe thing. Put on his sneakers. He'd gotten half way down the hall before he chickened out. Before he went back to his room. It was late and he should have been in bed and asleep by then. If he'd taken the pain killers he would have totally crashed. The nurses would know that he was given them and wonder how he was still awake when every other time they knocked him out in minutes. Awkward questions would be asked that he didn't want to answer. And then if Dr McAndrew, who had put him rather firmly in a time out, found out that he was out of bed, well he'd be pissed.

Jordi was still shocked that he didn't wake up handcuffed to his bed with police officers outside the door. He couldn't imagine that the hospital or the police would just shrug off a teenager scamming his way into drugs and then selling them as no big deal. He could only imagine that Dr McAndrew hadn't gotten around to saying anything yet. He could hope, even though it was likely more unlikely than him getting cancer, that Dr McAndrew had decided not to say anything. He couldn't know until he got a chance to talk to the doctor. But until then he wasn't about to do anything that might piss Dr McAndrew off. Like telling anyone what he had heard about Emma.

Emma. Jordi could feel the emptiness of her seat like a giant weight. Leo had still been missing when Jordi drifted off to sleep and had left the room by the time the nurses nagged Jordi into waking up and eating breakfast before sending him to class. Jordi barely got to his seat before Ms Philips walked in and began launching into a history lesson about the First World War. So Jordi hadn't had a chance even if he wanted to tell them about how he'd barely walked back into his room before hearing Dr McAndrew's voice in the hallway. He'd debated for a split second before deciding he'd wait until morning, perhaps pretending he had a question about his chemo as a way to get face to face with the doctor. And then he heard Emma's name. He knew he shouldn't have listened. They likely thought that everyone was asleep so they weren't really whispering or anything. Jordi's heart had sunk at what he heard. And yet a part of him was happy that things hadn't gone perfectly. Not that he wanted anything to happen to Emma. On the contrary, he wanted her to be okay and happy and healthy and safe. But he was happy, in a twisted way, that he might have a second chance to fix things. The most normal moments he had had since coming to the hospital had been with or about Emma. He needed a chance to really talk to her. To tell her that he'd been a jerk. To try to get back some shred of their friendship.

"Jordi. Are you with us today?" Ms Philips' voice cut through his voice.

"Sorry, ma'am."

"I asked what your thoughts were about what, if any, social significance the war had."

"Uh, ummm. Well."

"You weren't paying any attention today were you?"

"I'm sorry ma'am. I just have a lot on my mind."

He could see the teacher sigh.

"Alright, we are at the end of our time this morning. You all have treatments and such to get to so lets get to the nitty and gritty. Your mission if you choose to accept it, and you will because you actually have no choice, is 3 to 5 pages discussing a socially significant aspect of the first world war. Bring them with you for class tomorrow and please be remember that grammar, spelling and, for those of you without access to a computer, penmanship count. Also, I will be randomly picking some of you to present your thoughts in class so please be ready. One final note, please pick up your copies of "Huckleberry Finn" and be prepared to begin our discussion of the first four chapters tomorrow after our history discussion. And as the pig would say, that's all folks.

"Jordi, if I may have a moment."

"I have a chemo treatment to get to."

"I just need a minute."

"Okay."

Ms Philips waited until the other children were out of the room.

"Jordi, I know this is all alot and you're here because you're sick and you have tests and treatments and meetings. But school is important."

"I know."

"I really need you to find a way to get all that other stuff out of your head and focus. It's just a two hours every day. Possibly the most normal two hours of your day."

"Definitely." Jordi laughed.

"And let's not forget that you asked me to help you register for a real school for your emancipation request. And I was happy to do it. But it's not enough for you to be registered, you also have to be keeping up with the work.

"Now I'm not a doctor or a nurse but I do know enough to know that chemotherapy can be really rough and I am happy to work with you when the nurses tell me that you were just too sick to get the assignments done on time. But when you are well enough to be in this room, I need you to be here. Okay?"

"Okay. I promise I'll try harder. I really will."

"Good. On that note, I finished grading the papers on "Pride and Prejudice" and yours was not good. The writing was poorly thought out, the spelling was horrific. The whole thing was a fail. Which disappoints me because you were in your recovery period so you should have been capable of better. Of course you asked for help with your emancipation so I'm going to assume that some stress from that process was weighing heavily on your mind. And that that was the reason for your atrocious and inappropriate behavior the other day. Behavior I am certain will never been repeated."

"No ma'am. I promise. The situation that caused that behavior is totally fixed."

"Good. Then I'm going to give you a second chance."

"You are?"

"I am. You have one week to rewrite your "Pride and Prejudice" paper and do a far far better job on it. I will work with the nurses to find a time for you to present your thoughts to me to fulfill the oral presentation part of the assignment. In fairness I'm giving Leo a second chance on that part as well. Okay?"

"Yeah. Thank you."

"Jordi, if you're having trouble with the assignments all you have to do is ask for help. I take no pleasure in failing students so I'm here to help. But you have to speak up."

"I will."

"Good. Looks like someone's waiting for you. But there's one last thing. I think it might do you some good to have someone to talk to about these things that are on your mind."

"You mean like a therapist?"

"That's one thought. A friend might be another. And I'm a pretty good listener, if you ever need one."

"Thanks, but I think I'm good."

"Consider it a standing offer. Now you better go before Nurse Jackson bites my head off. And don't forget your book."

Jordi picked up the paperback. He was actually glad they had a new reading assignment. Chemo could be rather boring.


	5. Chapter 5

"Good morning, doctor." Adam glanced up from the files at the voice.

"Morning, Brittany." Adam caught the nurse looking at him. "yes I'm without a tie today. I spilled coffee on it."

"Don't you have surgery this morning?"

"Yes I do. I'm assisting Dr Kovacs with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia on an eight month old."

"Sounds intense."

"Very. And they tend to go long. Which is why I wanted to check on my favorite patients before we start."

Adam flipped open another file. "Dash actually went to all of his treatments yesterday. And was on time. That might be a first."

"Nurse Jackson was surprised."

"Jackson surprised? That's definitely a first." Adam laughed. "I'm sorry I missed it."

"Missed what?"

"Morning Jackson. I'm glad you're here. I want to go over Charlie's neuro recordings from the last few days. Could you pull them for me and get me a breakdown of what activities Dr Naday has been doing."

"I don't think Dr Naday needs you micromanaging him."

"I'm not looking to micromanage but I am the doctor of record so I'm the one that has to answer any questions about Charlie's treatments and their effectiveness."

"Splendid." Adam turned to find the visiting doctor walking up. "I'm not very fond of dealing with the number crunchers."

"You don't mind if I go over-"

"No, no. Be my guest. Fresh eyes are always useful. You might see something I've missed."

"Okay." Adam was a little surprised that the doctor was so accommodating. They hadn't gotten off to a good start.

"I was also thinking we should step up Charlie's PT." Adam decided to take advantage of the apparent good will. "I couldn't sleep last night with that crazy wind storm going on so I was catching up on my journal reading. There was an interesting article about assisted movement therapy with stroke patients. I thought we might be able to apply some of the ideas to Charlie."

"Get his muscles ready for when his brain finds them." Naday grinned, "That is excellent thinking, Dr McAndrew. Let's find a time to have a chat. Perhaps this afternoon."

"Sure. I'll find you after rounds?"

"Good, good." Naday wandered off towards Charlie's room. Jackson started to follow.

"Jackson wait a second."

"Doctor."

"We need to talk about Jordi."

"What about him?"

What indeed. It wasn't just the wind storm that had kept him up the night before. Adam wanted to pull Jackson into a private corner and tell her what he saw. He wanted to ask her what she would do. Would she turn Jordi in, hoping the judge would be understanding. Or would she keep it to herself, preferring to handle things themselves. Adam wasn't sure, and he wasn't sure he should say anything. Jackson was already on touchy ground with the blood work incident. If they said nothing and got caught a second offense wouldn't go over where. He might not be able to save Jackson, just knowing might be enough. And these kids needed her, perhaps more than they needed him.

"Adam, what about Jordi?"

Adam flinched from a stomach cramp. That was what had kept him up. Trying to decide what to do was literally making him feel sick. He barely managed to eat breakfast. And every time the question fluttered back into his thoughts, his stomach did another flip flop.

"Are you okay?"

Adam shook off the feeling. "I'm fine. Like I said, the storm kept me up."

"Jordi?"

"Right, Jordi. I was looking at his chart and I don't like what I'm seeing. He refused lunch yesterday saying his stomach was hurting, he barely ate dinner and promptly threw up. There's three more incidents. One was barely ten minutes after Porter prescribed him pain meds for his leg. His temperature spiked twice and is this right that he came back from chemo with an elevated temperature."

Jackson nodded. "When I left last night it hadn't gone under 99.7 the whole afternoon."

"That's no good. I wish someone had called me."

"It was your day off and there wasn't really anything you could do."

"And while I appreciate the thought we both know if it had been you, heads would be rolling if you didn't get that call."

Jackson laughed. "True."

"Good. So from now on, I want an update when you check him. I know it's a pain especially when I asked you to do it every hour but if he's reacting this bad, this fast it's even more important.

"The tumors are still growing. Not as quickly as they did before treatment but it's still not good. The state wouldn't let me do a surgical removal because the amount of tissue involved makes it a long procedure."

"They're worried he's not strong enough."

"They prefer the slow and steady but more or less safe way. Which means Jordi will likely have at least one more round of this before I can convince them. But Erin isn't going to sign off if Jordi isn't in good shape. I need him strong. Jackson I need you to help me get him there.

"I'm giving you carte blanche, within reason. I want him on bed rest again today and I want those hourly reports. Good or bad. At least until I can check him out for myself."

"Jordi's not going to like being stuck in bed."

"Do what you do best and tell him to get over it. It's 'Doctors Orders' and he can yell me."

"He'll certainly try."

"And he has to eat. What, when, how much at a time I'll leave up to you. I only insist on two units of fluids even if he is keeping his meals down. I've left orders to do more if you think he needs it. Talk to Naday if you think he might have any ideas."

"Naday?"

"Sure. I can't ignore that he has done some great stuff with Charlie. And Jordi could probably use some happy, positive brain waves. Maybe more than Charlie."

Adam's pager went off. "I gotta go. OR's almost ready and I've got to scrub up. Last thing, no more oral meds. Especially pain killers. I don't like the idea of Jordi being a human pin cushion but I like the idea of him of him in pain even less."

"Don't worry about Jordi. Or Charlie. They're in good hands."

"I know." Adam nodded. "They're in yours."


	6. Chapter 6

Everything hurt. Not a big hurt, just a constant low roar. It was annoying. It took everything Jordi had to page attention in class. But he did it. Somehow. It was the only time, other than chemo, he was allowed out of his room. Doctors Orders. Like the annoying hourly checks. Jordi didn't need a nurse taking his temperature to know he had a fever. He was all too familiar with the whole sweaty icky and yet cold feeling. He didn't need to know the exact number, he knew it sucked. Almost as much as being constantly dead tired and the hurt. He could barely stand up and walk most of the time but he did it as much as he could. He hated having to use a wheelchair.

It was a small victory that he could hobble around slowly, dragging his shaking hands along the wall to help keep his balance. Walking to class Dash and Leo would always be there, no matter how long it took. And Kara was Kara so yeah she didn't stick around. She was in major bitch mode because she couldn't bully her way in to see Hunter. He had made it through his surgery but he would be in isolation in the ICU for at least a couple of weeks because they had to use drugs that would try to keep his body from rejecting the new liver. Drugs like of like chemo, Nurse Jackson had told them, but a lot stronger. They couldn't risk someone having a cold or anything because right now Hunter had basically no immune system.

"You sure you don't want-" Nurse Dobler had insisted on bringing a wheelchair when she turned up to walk him back from the treatment room. Another of Dr McAndrews annoying orders. One of the nurses was always there, to walk him to class, to treatment, back to hisroom. Did the Doctor think Jordi was going to pull a ditch day or something. Jordi wanted out of the hospital but he wasn't crazy enough to just run away. He wasn't suicidal after all. And he didn't need a babysitter.

"NO." Jordi stopped, leaning against the wall. "I'm sorry. That was kind of rude."

"It's okay."

"I know it seems stupid. But I've got to sit there and I can't get up for hours. And then I'll be stuck in my room."

"I get it." She smiled at him softly. "Just don't push yourself too hard. It's okay to ask for help."

"You sound like Miss Phillips."

"I was trying to do Nurse Jackson."

Jordi smiled. "Needs work." He took a deep breath and stood up. "Better get moving or she might think you're slacking."

"Perish the thought." She laughed.

Jordi liked the younger nurse. She could be goofy at times but she was nice. She would talk to him when she came to take his temperature and stuff. She never made a big deal out of helping him change out of a sticky, sweaty shirt or walk to the bathroom to throw up. And she brought him magazines to read when he still couldn't fall asleep and she had to leave. Sometimes she felt more like a big sister. Well what he thought a big sister would be like.

When they got back to the Swamp, Jordi could feel his legs starting to shake. He didn't object when the nurse put an arm around him and led him towards his bed.

"Yo J-Man." Dash was lounging on the love seat.

"Dash." Nurse Dobler helped Jordi into the bed. "Nurse Jackson gave very strict orders that Jordi was to stay in bed so whatever you're scheming is not going to happen."

"Nurse Dobler I am wounded. Can't a fellow just come to bring a sick friend a little entertainment?"

Jordi could see the nurse thinking over the situation. He was about to jump in and tell Dash he was too tired for whatever it was, to avoid Nurse Jackson getting mad about them not following orders.

"Well, Dr McAndrew did say he wanted Jordi to get lots of rest but as long as Jordi stays in bed I suppose you can stay for a few minutes. Until lunch arrives."

"I'm not hungry."

"You have to eat something."

"My stomach hurts."

"Jordi please don't make me beg."

Jordi sighed. He knew the nurse was just doing her job. And he was kind of hungry. He just knew he'd probably throw it all up and he hated throwing up. Still she did say Dash could hang out for a little while. So he owed her one.

"Could I have mashed potatoes?" It was the first thing he could think of that probably wouldn't taste too gross a second time around.

"Okay. I'll see what I can do." Nurse Dobler stopped in the doorway and gave Dash a comically stern look. "And whatever you've got better not be porn."

"That lady is wacked." Dash laughed. "Like I would bring you porn."

"You wanted to get Charlie a stripper."

"Exactly. I get my home boys some boobs I get the real thing." Dash picked up the iPad he'd brought with him and opened up a video. "Check this out."

"It's a guy in a cow costume."

"It's a guy dancing in a cow costume. And dude has some serious moves."


	7. Chapter 7

"Wow. That's pretty good." Kenji whispered.

Adam looked up from his doodling. "Thanks."

"Didn't know you could draw."

"Not really that good." Adam shrugged.

"I don't know. It looks like him, in a cartoony sort of way."

"My roommate in college was a military brat. Family spent some time in Japan and he got hooked on their comic books. He was actually an art student. Had stacks of comics and how to books around. I picked it up a little, I guess."

"Art is good therapy. Supposed to be very soothing even." Kenji made a few notes on Jordi's chart. "And no offense but last couple of days you have been wound rather tight."

"I'm fine. Just tired."

"Worrying about Jordi non stop can't be helping."

"I hate torturing him like this." Adam sighed. "He's been through so much crap with his mother, and his grandmother. And this. He's a good kid. He should be at home, in school."

"Girls going nuts over those pretty eyes."

"Yeah. He's a looker. And a musician." Adam picked up the chart.

"Look out world."

Adam glanced up as Jordi shifted in his sleep. "He didn't eat much lunch."

"He told Brittany his stomach hurt. But he still ate a little."

"Threw it up." Adam shook his head. "How many IVs?"

"Two so far."

Adam pulled out his pen and added another note. "Keep him on the fluids tonight."

"You still want us to text you updates?"

"Please." Adam straighten the blanket that Jordi had kicked off. "My day is pretty empty tomorrow. Surgery went long so Naday and I still have to chat but otherwise it's just rounds. Give me a chance to really go over everything. Talk to Jordi about how he's feeling."

"Good luck getting him to tell you all the gory details. I'm fairly sure he hasn't told us everything."

"I'll have a chat with him about that."

"Just tread carefully. He's had a couple of temper tantrums. And was before the new drugs. Who knows what these are doing to his mood."

"True." Adam had a pretty good idea what the drugs might be doing to Jordi. He had heard it when Jordi mentioned going home. Not that Jordi really had a home to go to. Eva had filled his head with the notion of them being a happy family, almost as if Jordi's cancer was a way to wipe the slate clean of their past.

And then she walked away. She couldn't do it, Eva had told him. Adam could still remember her saying that she wished she hadn't kept Jordi at all, that she should have just dumped him at some hospital when he was born and been done with it. Take good care of him. Her parting words before she climbed into that cab and didn't look back as it drove away.

When Jordi said 'go home' he meant not be there anymore. The closest thing he had to friends were a bunch of kids who had homes, families. And soon they would all be able to leave. Even just for a little while. One by one they would abandon him too. Sure they would say they would call and email and come visit. But after a while life would be too busy. Better to be the one to go first than be the one left behind. Especially when being left behind meant being sick non stop. Ironically from the very drugs that were supposed to save his life. No wonder he went temporarily stupid and reckless. The whole thing was maddening.

"Yo Doc." Kenji's voice cut through his thoughts. "He's fine. Go home. Have dinner, get some sleep. We'll let you know if anything happens."

Adam nodded. He reached over and brushed a piece of hair out of Jordi's face. "I hope you're dreaming of talent shows." He whispered.


	8. Chapter 8

He was on the beach. It was really hot so it felt nice to jump in the cold water. Stopping had been his mother's idea. They were living in Los Angeles and she picked him up early from school and decided since it was his school break they were going to drive to Mexico to see his abuela. He'd seen her once before, when he was eight. His mother sent him to stay with her cousins in San Juan. They drove to Toluca for her birthday. That was almost 4 years ago and he was excited to see Abuela again.

"Jo Jo, lets stop and go for a swim." His mother had suggested. The air conditioning in the car wasn't working very well so Jordi loved the idea of getting out for a little while. HIs swimsuit was in a suitcase in the back but Jordi just ran into the water in his shorts and tee shirt. He didn't care. It felt too good. It was cold and salty and didn't have that funny smell like when they went to the pier. Jordi jumped into the surf over and over until it started getting dark.

"Jordi." A voice called out to him. "Yo J-Man."

"What?" Jordi shock himself awake. Dash was standing by his bed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong dude. Just you talking in your sleep."

"I was?"

"Yeah."

"what did I say?"

"something like 'just a little longer'. You having sex dreams or something?" Dash laughed. "Better start sharing the details."

"I was at the beach with my mother." Jordi laughed.

"The beach?"

"Yeah, I was 12. We stopped on the way to visit my abuela." Jordi scoffed. "It was actually a pretty good day. Except for the part where my mother disappeared while I was asleep and left me in Mexico."

"Harsh."

"A little." Jordi winced from a pain in his leg.

"You okay J-man?"

"My leg hurts. It's fine." Jordi took a careful drink of the water on his bed side table. He promised Nurse Jackson he'd drink as much as he could. He paused and took another drink. So far so good. Three days and he was getting really bored with throwing up. And with having to have an IV. The tape made his arm itch. Unfortunately it was doctor's orders. Jordi was getting sick of all the orders. He really wanted to talk to Dr McAndrew. He wanted to apologize, admit his utter stupidity, everything. Maybe then the doctor would stop treating him like a prisoner. Unless the orders were what was keeping him out of jail. Maybe he hadn't been arrested because they couldn't treat him in jail. Maybe they weren't telling him because then he might actually try to run away.

Jordi's stomach did a flip flop. He took a deep breath and decided whatever it was, he'd rather know the truth. And he would tell Dr McAndrew it was his own fault. The doctor had been a great guy to take him as a patient, to try to save his leg. to even offer to do the surgery to help him avoid a ton more chemo. Jordi was the idiot so it was his own fault. He didn't want Dr McAndrew to feel bad for reporting him. The alternative would be getting fired if anyone found out that the doctor didn't tell. Jordi couldn't live with that. There were kids out there that needed Dr McAndrew. And Nurse Jackson. She was annoying and kind of mean at times but it was the straight up truth. Which is why he had shown up for Leo and Dash's big meeting in the first place, even though he didn't really want to either one of them at the time.

"You gonna hork?"

"Nope. I think I'm good. For now."

"Cool. Cause there's this dude outside that is looking for you."

"What dude?" Oh crap, maybe this was a cop. Deep Breath.

"Yo, Dog Dude. He's good."

"David." Jordi smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"Remember yesterday you asked me how we decide who we visit and I said we go wherever we're asked."

"Yeah, I asked you if you'd come visit my friend Charlie and you said a doctor has to ask."

"I guess that hot nurse that came to get you heard us talking cause I got a call this morning from a Nurse Jackson asking if Max was free."

"Really?"

David nodded. "I've got him and Daisy outside."

"What's with the dogs?" Leo hobbled into the room.

"Dude, Jordi got them for Charlie."

"Seriously?" Leo leaned against the loveseat.

"Guys, this is David. He's from the puppy group I told you about. This is Dash and Leo. And yeah, he brought the puppies for Charlie."

"Does he know?"

"I didn't tell him." Jordi laughed. "I didn't know."

"I got the impression no one told him." David smiled. "I guess this Jackson wanted it to be a surprise."

"Indeed I did." Jackson smiled from the door way. "Dr Naday and I thought it might be best not to mention it incase plans didn't work out. Charlie has been though enough without having us getting him all worked up and then things falling apart."

Jackson pulled a thermometer out of her pocket. Jordi didn't even try to object. He just let her stick it under his tongue and watched her taking his pulse. She pulled the thermometer out, wrote down a number.

"Well?" Leo said impatiently.

"Keep your pants on Mr Roth. I'm already stretching Dr McAndrew's orders here. I'm certainly not going to do it if Jordi isn't well enough."

"I'm fine really." Jordi protested softly.

"Oh really. Because your constantly elevated temperature is more elevated than normal. Your hands are shaking. You're rubbing your leg which means it probably hurts."

"Okay, okay. I'm not fine. But I don't really feel that bad. I'm not as dizzy as before. My leg always hurt a little. And I drank a whole cup without throwing up. That's good right."

"Good enough." Jackson smiled at him. "But I don't want any fussing when I say time's up. You and Charlie both can't go getting worn out. Deal?"

"Deal."

Jordi pulled on his favorite sweatshirt, hoping to stop the constant shivers. He steadied himself on the end of the bed.

"Chair for you, young man." Jackson said firmly. "And don't you fuss or I'll put you back into bed."

Jordi frowned to himself. He wasn't about to argue. Truth was, he suddenly wasn't feeling totally steady. He was happy for the excuse to use the wheelchair without seeming like a wimp.

They were reaching the doorway to Charlie's room when Jordi realized the others were hanging back a little. Even David who had the two puppies on their leashes. It was like they were waiting for something.

"It was your idea, Jordi. You should be the one to tell him." Leo nodded towards the room.

"okay." Jordi rolled slowly into the room. He noticed Kara's bed was empty. No big shock, she was probably yelling at the ICU nurses again.

"Good Evening, Jordi right?" They had heard about this English doctor who was supposed to be a big hotshot that was there to help treat Charlie. He didn't look anything like a doctor. He was far too relaxed. No lab coat, no shirt and tie like Dr McAndrew. Jordi couldn't put his finger on it but there was something there that he liked. Maybe it was that he seemed like a big kid. Maybe it was that he came to help Charlie.

"Yeah. I'm Jordi." Jordi nodded over his shoulder to his friends standing in the doorway. "That's Leo and Dash."

The doctor looked over at the computer screen on Charlie's bed table. "They are your friends? Is that so?"

"Yeah." Jordi nodded. "Nurse Jackson said we could come visit Charlie. I mean if he wants us to."

_"__Please."_ The doctor read off the screen. "Well I don't know. Charlie, your friend doesn't look like he feels very good."

_"__He's stronger than he looks."_ Jordi thought for a moment that he saw the corners of Charlie's mouth turn up in a smile. _"And he's a musician."_

"Really?"

"J Man has mad guitar skills." Dash nodded. "Writes his own songs too."

"Well Charlie does know my weakest for music. Especially guitar." The doctor winked at them. "I suppose for a little while. Nurse Jackson, don't let these boys wear themselves out."

"Not on my watch, Dr Naday." Jackson laughed from the doorway.

The doctor scooped up some papers and shoved them in a bag. "Then I suppose we are done for the day. But you'll have to work extra hard tomorrow."

_"__It's a deal." _

"This is pretty cool." Jordi wheeled over to the side of the bed. "How does it work?"

_"__I use my eyes to move across the screen."_

"So like you look over to the right and it moves to the right and when it's on the letter you want you blink?"

_"__Yes."_

"Cool." Dash laughed. "We've got something cool too"

_"__What is it?"_

"Jordi got it for you." Leo grinned.

_"__What?" _

"It's just a loan."

_"__Tell me or I'll"_

"What?" Dash laughed. "You'll fart on us."

_"__I might."_

"Kara says those farts are serious business." Leo laughed. "You better go get it."

"Okay." Jordi laughed. "Close your eyes?"

_"__Really?"_

"You want it or not?" Jordi wheeled out the room. "Leo are they closed?"

"Yep."

Jordi wheeled back into the room with Max on his lap. He carefully put the puppy on Charlie's lap and put the younger boy's hand in the dog's fur.

"Okay, open your eyes."

Jordi was certain he saw the tiniest smile. It was a start.


	9. Chapter 9

Adam could barely keep his eyes open. He wasn't just tired. He was utterly exhausted. The ding as the elevator reached the fifth floor was like a cannon in his head. He wanted to curl up in a dark corner and slept for a week. Except he had 9 more hours of work to go.

The lights were dimmed on Jordi's side of the room. Adam slipped in as quietly as he could. He had hoped that Jordi would still be awake and they could talk. But just like every time Adam had gotten a free minute during the last few days, Jordi was passed out cold. He barely seemed to register when Adam gently picked up his wrist to take his pulse. Or when Adam brushed the hair out of his face.

"Evening Brittany." Adam said to the nurse as he approached the desk. "Do you have Jordi's chart handy."

"Whoa." Brittany gasped as she handed him the file.

"Whoa what?" Adam looked down at his shirt, wondering if he'd gotten something on it. "The scrubs? I have barely left the OR or ER all day."

"All day? I thought you were doing consults all day. Why are you even here?"

"I got called back in last night because of a school bus crash. 40 high school band kids. Driver lost control of the bus in that crazy rain storm and went off the road. Bus flipped over a couple of times so there were plenty of internal bleeding cases, few compound fractures."

"Those poor kids. Are they all okay?"

"Bruised, battered and broken but as far as I know none of them died."

"That's good."

"But only the beginning. Masterson had to call out because her son woke up sick and might have the measles. They were going to call Fuller but it's his daughter's birthday. I delivered Amanda so how could I let her father work on her birthday."

"Aw, that's really sweet of you."

Adam dropped into a seat. "My payback has been a day in hell. I never believed all that Mercury in retrograde stuff before but today I do. Non stop. All day." Adam rubbed his neck. "And the shift is a double."

Adam felt a warm hand on his shoulders. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of Brittany's hands trying to squeeze out the tension that had was burning through his back.

"That feels nice." Adam sighed. "I shouldn't really be whining. Nurses do long days all the time."

"Suppose you're a bit out of practice."

"Very. I used to love the craziness in the ER. Case after case, grabbing a cat nap when you could. Running on adrenaline when you couldn't. But I am"

"Shredded? I think that's what the kids say these days."

"Yeah that's a good word."

"No offense but you kind of look it too."

"That bad?"

"Well lets see, Jordi had thrown up 17 times in three days, he hasn't had a temperature below 99.5 since his first day back on chemo. He's eaten the equivalent of one decent meal today and maybe half that the two before. He is constantly nauseous, his leg is killing him non stop although he won't admit it, and he's developed vertigo.

"And he looks better than you do."

"That's pretty bad." Adam laughed. He cringed as his stomach cramped.

"Are you okay?"

"yeah. It's just my stomach. It's — its just the adrenaline crash and I'm hungry and tired. I was going to get something to eat but the cafeteria is closed and the commissary only had blueberry bars, which I really don't like."

"I could order you something. I"m sure there's something that delivers this late."

"You don't have to do that."

"I really don't mind. Chinese? Some egg drop soup, little steamed rice and some stir fry chicken might be good. Tasty, filling and not spicy so it won't upset your already stomach even more."

"You've made that pitch before haven't you?"

"I might have tried it on Jordi."

"Jordi." Adam sighed. "He probably thinks I've abandoned him."

"Of course he doesn't."

"I haven't seen him once in three day, Brittany. Well not awake at least. I keep trying."

"He's in good hands. He knows you have other patients." Brittany gently pulled him to his feet. "Besides he's sleeping right now. Which is what you need before more insanity comes calling. I suggest the staff lounge. It's always empty this time of night and the sofa is rather comfy."

"You're right. Come get"

"you if anything happens." Brittany pushed him towards the hall. "go."

Adam didn't bother turning on the light as he entered the room. He checked that the ringer was on and set an alarm to wake him up in an hour. He set the phone on the small end table. Moments later he was fast asleep


	10. Chapter 10

It was too hot. That was his first thought.

His second thought was that he felt trapped. He knew it didn't make any sense. He'd been sleeping in the same room for weeks. The door was wide open. Nothing was holding him down. He didn't even have an IV in his arm.

But he couldn't help feeling this odd panic.

Jordi quietly slid out of his bed. He knew he'd get in trouble for getting out of bed but he had to get out of the room. He wasn't sure why, but he knew it.

He barely got to the doorway before he realized that his legs felt really weak. Everything felt really tired even though he had slept for several hours. Side effect of the drugs perhaps. Or maybe the shot of painkillers Nurse Jackson had given him hadn't fully worn off.

Jordi begrudgingly slid into the wheelchair that was sitting next to the door. He rolled down the hall where he was lucky to find the nurse's station empty. They were probably doing rounds or answering an alarm. The atrium caught his eye and that's when he realized what he wanted. He wanted to go outside. Even just for a minute. He hadn't been outside in days.

"Are you supposed to be out here?"

The voice in the dark made Jordi jump.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay." Jordi grinned. "No, I'm probably not. I couldn't sleep and my room was too hot. I needed some air."

"You're Jordi, right? One of Dr McAndrew's cancer patients?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Osteosarcoma isn't it?"

"No. That's what my doctor in Mexico thought. But Dr McAndrew said it's a Ewing Sarcoma. I'm not sure what the difference is."

"Osteosarcoma starts in the bone and if its not caught fast enough moves out. Ewing Sarcoma starts in the tissue and moves in."

"That makes sense." Jordi felt himself shiver and wrapped his arms around his chest.

"Are you cold?"

"A little. But it feels nice. Can I just stay for a couple of minutes?"

"I suppose it wouldn't be so bad." The woman smiled. "I'm Dr Grace."

"I know. I've seen you around."

"Actually I'm glad we bumped into each other. I've been meaning to come talk to you."

"You have?"

"I wanted to make sure you understood that it was my decision, more or less, that he not do the surgery on your leg."

"I don't understand. Why would you do that?"

"Because it's too risky." Dr Grace sighed. "I know you are probably really over the gross nasty feeling that comes from doing chemo. And the surgery sounded like a way to get past all that. And I have no doubts that Dr McAndrew can do.

"It's you that I had doubts about. See no matter how good the surgeon is, and Dr McAndrew is one of the best, things happen. It's like with your first surgery, no one could have guessed from the MRIs and the rest of the tests that they were totally wrong about the type of tumor you have.

"In the same way, no one can really predict what might happen during the surgery. And the chemo has really done a number on your system so you aren't as strong as you probably should be for surgery. Which is what I told Children's Services when they called to ask my opinion."

"Why would they ask you?"

"I'm the chief of surgery which makes me Dr McAndrew's boss. It's not uncommon for the chief to give opinions about surgeries. Especially when it involves a child in the system. They aren't doctors so they trust us to be upfront with them about all the risks."

"Oh."

"The truth is that I did it as much for Dr McAndrew as I did for you. Everyone tells me that you are a great kid. And the world needs all the great kids it can get. So it would be a shame to lose you. And I'm worried it would destroy Dr McAndrew because he's gotten pretty attached to you. He shouldn't, it goes against what we are taught in med school. But he has.

"Part of my job is protecting my surgeons from lawsuits and such. But Dr McAndrew and I have known each other a long time and he's a very good friend. I've seen how much it hurts him to lose a patient and he barely knew that boy. I'm sorry, I know chemo sucks. I have heard the rumors about how bad this time has been for you. But I just couldn't do it. I couldn't risk either of your lives when there was another way to go."

Jordi sat in silence for a moment. He wanted to be angry. But he found that he couldn't. How could he be angry with someone who thought she was doing the right thing to save his life.

"Thank you for explaining it to me."

"You're welcome."


	11. Chapter 11

Adam jolted awake. For a moment he thought his alarm had gone off but there was nothing. He picked up his phone and saw he'd only been asleep for less than half an hour. There were no calls or texts.

Something had woken him up but he had no idea what it was. So he had no idea what to curse for interrupting the only rest he'd had in hours.

The ache in his stomach reminded him that he had also gone without any decent food all day. The frozen pasta and canned sauce he'd turned into a semblance of a dinner the night before had run out somewhere around the fourth patient. He'd scarfed down half a bagel a couple of patients after that. Mostly he'd been running on coffee, energy drinks and a bag of that cheap summer camp trail mix someone had tossed him in between the rule out appi and the 4 year old in anaphylaxis.

"No wonder I have heart burn." Adam muttered to himself. He was tempted to ask Brittany to order that take out after all, if she could find something. But he found the thought of that much food oddly disgusting. Funny how the body works. He was dead tired and he couldn't sleep. He was hungry but the thought of eating a full meal was gross.

Still he knew, intellectually, that he needed to eat something. Just like he needed to rest.

_"__Peanut butter?"_

_"__What you don't like peanut butter?"_

_"__Yeah, who doesn't. If you aren't allergic. But it's kind of an odd thing to keep in your locker."_

_"__I'm going to put it in the lounge I just haven't gotten up there yet."_

_"__That makes more sense."_

_"__Trust me. Some night when you've raced through a marathon of patients and there's no where to get any food so you're stuck with some cheap granola bar out of a vending machine, you'll be thanking me that I keep a jar of peanut butter in the lounge."_

_"__So you're going to share your peanut butter with everyone?"_

_"__No." She smiled at him. "Just you."_

Adam grinned at the memory.

"I wonder." Old habits are hard to break. And surely Erin wouldn't begrudge him given it was kind of an emergency. He'd buy her a gallon more as payback. The expensive organic kind that she really liked even.

As Adam stood up, his head began to spin. He took a deep breath and waited for his head to clear.

"I really am tired." It was the crash of course. All that adrenaline had stopped and his body was resetting itself. Plus he was likely dehydrated.

"Sandwich, some water. A lot of water." He muttered to himself. Erin always laughed about how he thought out loud when he was tired.

He found the jar in the cabinet but no bread. Not a big deal. Adam had never been bothered by the thought of just eating a giant spoon of the stuff. Actually he liked that more than actually making a sandwich. He scraped out what was left in the bottom of the almost empty jar and took a link.

_"__Grape or strawberry?"_

_"__Neither."_

_"__Really?"_

_"__Nope. I like it plain."_

_"__Just peanut butter and bread?"_

_"__Bread's optional."_

_"__What, you just eat it by itself."_

_"__Sometimes."_

_"__That's weird."_

_"__More like lazy."_

_"__At least you're honest." She laughed. "And you better not double dip."_

_"__only at home."_

Adam grabbed his coffee cup out of the rack. Another of Erin's ideas. They were always running out of cups and the wastefulness irked her. It was one thing when you were talking about keeping a surgical room sterile. But what was the harm in doctors keeping a cup around and washing it. No one could give her a reason against it.

Even after she left, he had kept using it. Silly Doc the Dwarf coffee cup she saw when they took a childish trip to Disneyland one afternoon. She said it was fitting since he was a pediatrician.

Adam bent down to fill up the cup from the water cooler. As he stood back up he felt a sharp pain in his side. He heard something crash as he felt himself falling. He was briefly aware of his head hitting something before it all went black.


	12. Chapter 12

"What are you doing out here?" Brittany snapped.

"Sorry Brittany," Dr Grace spoke up. "Jordi said he couldn't sleep and his room was too hot. So I said he could come outside for a minute for some fresh air."

"Oh Dr Grace, I didn't see you." Brittany nodded. "Time to go back to bed, Jordi."

"Can I just"

"No." Brittany interjected. "Sorry. But Dr McAndrew was pretty specific."

Jordi begrudgingly went back inside. "I've been sleeping. I'm not tired. I don't even feel as sick as before."

"That's good. It means your body is finally starting to adjust to the new meds." Brittany smiled. "I'll tell Dr McAndrews when he wakes up. He could use some good news."

"He's here? In the hospital."

"Yes. He's been covering the ER."

"I need to talk to him." Jordi pleaded. "Please. I know I can convince him that he doesn't have to keep me in my room all the time."

"Jordi, he's going it for your own good. He's worried about how sick you got before."

"I told you, I feel better. I'm going crazy, I'm totally bored."

"I'm sorry Jordi. I really am. Dr McAndrew has come by to see you but you were asleep and he didn't want to wake you up. "

"I'm awake now."

"But he's not. And this time it's Dr McAndrew who really needs the sleep."

Jordi sighed.

"I tell you what. I'll make you a deal."

"What kind of deal?"

"You go back to your room and when Dr McAndrew wakes up I'll tell him you really need to talk to him. And I'll strongly suggest he check and see if you're still awake."

"You will?"

"Yes. But you should know that he might get woken by another emergency so he'll be busy. I don't want you trying to keep yourself awake waiting for him."

"Okay. I won't." Jordi smiled. "I promise."

"It's a deal then."

Jordi climbed back into bed and let the nurse do her whole routine. She seemed pleased that his temperature, although not back to normal, was at the low end of his constant fever. His pulse was good, his breathing normal.

He even let her tuck the covers around him without a fuss. "You won't forget?"

"I won't. I promise."

Jordi lay in bed. He knew he should try to go back to sleep but now that he knew Dr McAndrew was somewhere in the hospital he was totally wired. He knew there was no way he'd get back to sleep until he had a chance to apologize. It didn't change what he did or the spot he put the doctor in. He didn't even care if Dr McAndrew never gave him back his paperwork. Or didn't help him expedite his hearing. He wanted to say he was sorry and to admit that he did a stupid, childish thing. He wanted a chance to prove that he could do better.

Jordi picked up his phone. He typed out a text but paused before sending it. Nurse Dobler had said that Dr McAndrew was working in the ER and he needed to sleep. If he had his phone the alert might wake him up. Which would be a bit rude. Especially since it wasn't an actual emergency. Not to mention Dr McAndrew could just ignore the text. Jordi just didn't know.

He heard a beep from the hall and slipped out of bed. An alarm was going off somewhere and Brittany disappeared down the hall. The other night shift nurse was looking the other way.

There was only one place Jordi could think of where Dr McAndrew might go to get some sleep. He'd sit outside and wait. Then he couldn't be ignored.

The halls were eerily quite as Jordi walked down to the doctor's lounge. They had wandered past it several times and Jordi had gotten a peek inside as someone walked in or out. He knew there was a sofa and it seemed a good spot to steal a few minutes.

The lights were dim behind the closed door. Jordi nudged the door open, just wanting to confirm that Dr McAndrew was inside. If he was asleep, Jordi would leave him be for now. If he was awake, Jordi would try to talk to him.

"Dr McAndrew?" Jordi whispered. There was a light on over the kitchen area. From the faint light, Jordi could see there was no one on the sofa. Perhaps he'd already been called back to the ER.

Jordi heard a buzz as he turned to leave. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a phone sitting on the table. It didn't seem like Dr McAndrew to leave his phone. Unless he was really in a rush. Jordi knew he'd probably get in trouble for going into the room but he figured he should take the phone to the nurses station or something. Brittany probably knew where Dr McAndrew was and she could tell him that it was there. Jordi could just claim he found it in the hall.

He picked up the phone. As he started to leave something caught his attention. Out of the corner of his eye, Jordi noticed a large bottle laying on the floor. It was one of those plastic ones that companies used for drinking water coolers. It was just sitting there out of place. Something about seeing it left Jordi with an odd feeling.

He wandered over to where the bottle was sitting and heard the tiny splash as his foot hit a small pool of water. His eye followed the likely path the bottle would have rolled and noticed something dark in the dim light.

"Dr McAndrew?" Jordi shuffled over quickly. The man was lying more or less face down on the floor. Jordi gently turned him over. "Dr McAndrew."

He seemed to be barely breathing and there was blood on his face. "Dr McAndrew. Wake up."

There was no response.

"Somebody help." Jordi yelled as loud as he could. "I need help."

"Don't die Dr McAndrew. Please don't die."


	13. Chapter 13

Jordi limped into the room to find Dash sitting by the bed.

"Yo J-man. How was chemo?"

"Nauseating."

"What else is new?"

"You didn't have to do this."

"Let Dr McAndrew be here alone. No way does a Red Band do that to another Red Band. And seeing as he's one of us now."

"He was always one of us." Jordi lowered himself into the chair that Dash had vacated.

"Well dude is our doctor and he helps us fight the good fight. So that's like an honorary member. Nurse Jackson too." Dash gently tapped the red wrist band around the doctors wrist. "But now he's a real bonafide member. And you saved his life."

"I just yelled for help. Dr Grace is the one that did the surgery. She saved him."

"Uh huh, Dude. I heard Dr Grace and one of the nurses talking. She said that he was super lucky. If you hadn't disobeyed Nurse Dobler and gone looking for him it could have been hours before anyone went to the lounge and found him. By then he could have been septic. Or maybe even dead."

"Really?"

"Yeah dude. It was all you." Dash gave Jordi a fist bump. "True Red Band style."

"I threw away my wristband, remember."

"I also remember you saying you wish you had never put it on. But you did. And even with it gone you still act like one of us. And we aren't letting you go so easy either."

Dash reached into his pocket. "So maybe you might want this back." He held out the wristband, the ends healed together by several layers of scotch tape.

"I threw that off the roof."

"Yeah, I know."

"You went and found it?"

"Damn right I did. I figured you'd eventually get your head out of your butt and realize that once a Red Band, always a Red Band. Even if you aren't wearing it." Dash tossed it onto Jordi's lap. "Put it back on and officially admit that you are and will always be one of us."

Jordi slipped it on his wrist. He'd lost so much weight his wrists were getting bony. He'd have to retape it so it was smaller or he'd lose it. Despite what Dash had said about the wrist band not mattering, he wasn't about to let it slip off. Just like he wasn't about to slip and forget that they were all there for him. It was a weird feeling to matter to people. He owed it to them not to forget.

"Looks good, J-man." Dash nodded. "I gonna go do my therapy before Nurse Jackson comes looking. You good."

"Yeah, I'm good."

"You want me to come back. Sit with you."

"I don't know if they'll let you."'

"Probably not." Dash shrugged. "Text us if anything happens okay. Or if you get tired or need something."

"I will."

"Laters."

Jordi pulled the chair closer to the bed. Dash's words echoed in his head. Had he really saved Dr McAndrew's life? Had the doctor almost died? The last few days Jordi hadn't had face time with the doctor but he had still be there, a shadowy sort of figuring who was at least reading charts and writing orders. To not have him there at all. Jordi didn't want to even consider the possibility. It was up there with when Nurse Jackson had been suspended as one of the most unthinkable things ever.

But it was all good now, wasn't it. Dr Grace had fixed Dr McAndrew. He had an infection but they were giving him drugs for that. Any minute he'd wake up and everything would be fine. He'd probably have to stay in bed for a few days but that was no big deal.

Jordi slipped his hand under the doctor's. "Wake up Dr McAndrew, please. We need you."


	14. Chapter 14

He heard beeping. Not the beeping of his phone. This was something else. His head felt fuzzy.

Adam opened his eyes slowly. It took a moment for him to realize that he was laying in a hospital bed. The beeping was a heart monitor. He could feel the weight of the oxygen monitor on his finger. There was an IV in his arm.

There was a hand wrapped in his. And a head with brown hair laying on the edge of the bed.

"Jordi?" Adam whispered. He gently wiggled his arm.

Jordi half jumped awake. "Dr McAndrew. You're awake." Jordi grinned sleepily.

"What's going on?"

"I'll get the doctor." Jordi leaned out the door and called out to someone outside.

"Hey Sleeping Beauty." Erin grinned as she walked into the room. "Thought you would never wake up."

"Would you please tell me what happened?"

"So cranky." Erin tutted at him. "Let me check you over first."

Adam sighed but said nothing. Jordi stood in the doorway talking on his phone. Adam could guess who he had called.

"Happy?" Adam smirked as Erin wrote something on the bedside chart.

"Very." She perched on the edge of the bed.

"And?"

"And you are really stupid and really lucky." Erin tucked the bed sheets around him. "How many lectures did we get in med school about the evils of letting yourself get run down or dehydrated or missing meals. You had to go and do all three."

"Not my finest hour."

"No, your 'finest hour' would be how, after the hundreds of patients you've seen, you missed every symptomatic warning side that your appendix was perforating."

"What?"

"No, that wasn't heart burn from too much coffee on an empty stomach." Erin shook her head. "You went full blown rupture last night. I guess you passed out from the drop in blood pressure. Knocked over the water cooler and wacked your head in the process.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah." Erin looked over at the doorway. "Jordi told me the two of you had a fight about you not doing the surgery after all. He said some mean things and he felt really bad about it and had been trying to talk to you to apologize."

"He had nothing to apologize for."

"He thought differently. And lucky of you that he did. Brittany let slip that you were working and he snuck out of bed to find you. I guess it was bugging him so much it was literally keeping him up.

"If he hadn't found you when he did."

Adam looked up at Jordi who seemed a little embarrassed by the comments. "Thank you."

"Yeah."

"Dude." Dash grinned as he half jumped through the doorway. "You're okay."

Adam found himself grinning as Leo, Kara, and Emma followed him into the room.

"I'm so glad you're okay."

"You had us really freaked out."

"Do you have like a gnarly scar, cause some chicks dig that."

They crowded around the bed, full of grins.

"Really, guys, I'm fine." Adam laughed.

"Okay, okay." Dr Grace said firmly.

"I'm sorry, Dr Grace." Jackson said from the doorway. "They've been pretty worried all day. They just needed to see for themselves."

"And now that they've seen, let's let Dr McAndrew. He'd be back up and running before you know it."

"Come on kids." Jackson pushed them out of the room.

"Welcome to the Red Bands, Doc." Dash said, giving Adam a fist bump.

"Glad to see you awake there, Adam. Place isn't the same without you."

"Jordi, wait a second." Adam called out.

"Adam." Erin fussed.

"Just two minutes."

"Okay."

Adam waited until the room was clear.

"I'm really glad you're okay."

"Sounds like I owe that to you."

Jordi shrugged. "Look I'm really sorry about what I did."

"Sorry enough that it will never happen again."

"I swear."

"I mean it, Jordi. Nothing. To anyway. Sold or even given away."

"Not even an aspirin."

"Okay. Then it's done. It's over."

"Can I have my application back?"

"Let's talk about that later. When we have time to sit down together and go over it. I promise I will make time."

"Okay."

Adam noticed Jordi chewing on his lip. "What?"

"Can I not be grounded anymore?"

"Grounded?"

"Stuck in my room all the time. Having to have a nurse walk me to class and to treatment. Making them check me every hour to make sure I haven't snuck off."

"Jordi, I'm so sorry. I didn't do that as a punishment. I was just worried about what would happen when you started this new chemo. The drugs were a lot stronger and you go so sick that first time. It kind of freaked me out to hear that you passed out at the movies. I didn't want a repeat of that. Or something worse."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. I care about you. Not just because it's my job. That's why I was so upset the other night. It wasn't just that you did something illegal that could get you in a ton of trouble. When I saw the money in your application I knew what it was for. And it disappointed me that you would do something like that. And that you didn't think you could come to me for help."

"I guess I'm not used to adults having my back."

"I'm not your mother, Jordi."

"No. You aren't." Jordi smiled.

"So we're good?"

"Yeah. Very good."

~~~~ fin


End file.
